42) Demons 2 (1986)

 "The blood dripping from the ceiling...I touched it!"

Director
Lamberto Bava

Cast
David Knight - George
Nancy Brilli - Hannah
Coralina Cataldi Tassoni - Sally Day
Bobby Rhodes - Hank
Marco Vivio - Tommy

I've somehow consistently gone back to Italy for horror movies in the last few months without conscientiously doing so. That's certainly not a bad thing, of course. Italian horror film makers have come up with some classic movies.
If the horror movies from Italy I've watched lately have taught me anything, it's that Italian horror directors sure love blood, guts, and the gruesome.
Well, I've turned to this Italian horror movie simply because it's a sequel to the 1985 movie Demons (Demoni in Italian) which is my seventh review on this blog.
While Demons sees an infestation of possessed people among movie-goers trapped in a movie theater, part two has the infestation occur within an apartment complex. It's a classic premise that I personally enjoy. Such a scenario provides several points of view in a horrific situation, with more for the audience to pull from, and more opportunities for the movie makers to get creative.
Unlike the first movie, part two is set in reality where Sally Day (the actress who played Liz in part one) is one of the main characters in the sequel. But she's portrayed by a different actress - not the real Sally Day. I think if I tried to explain this further, it would lead to confusion.
The first movie is referenced in the beginning of this sequel. This time, the token horror movie I mentioned in my review of part one, with four teenagers searching for a grave that was playing at the theater, is now on TV. Most of the tenants in this apartment have it turned on.
Only this time, it's presented as a documentary rather than a movie. Then in turns into a movie. This aspect is completely misguided. But everyone watching it is glued to the screen.
The movie within the movie is changed somewhat in part two. This time, the teenagers sneak into a deserted city and stumble upon the rotted corpse of a dead zombie person pinned under some debris. The corpse is revived accidentally when blood from one of the teens drips onto it.
The demon chases the teens and attacks a few, and then draws its attention to Sally - one of the apartment tenants - who's watching all this unfold on TV.
Sally, who has been hosting her own birthday party, locks herself in her bedroom because her boyfriend didn't show up.
She has the TV on while her guests try to pursued her to come out and join in the fun.
We're treated to the demon's point of view from the other side of the screen. He tries to force his way through the glass. The special effects here are impressive.
Before she knows it, the demon is in the room her.
When she comes out, the audience is treated to quite a gorefest as Sally transforms into a demon with her teeth falling out, green bile splattering, and acid blood dripping and sizzling on the floor.
The blood seeps through the floor and into apartments below. In no time, other tenants are infected and transforming into demons. No one is spared if affected. Even one of the tenant's dogs turns.

Nancy Brilli and David Marotta

Also, a young boy named Tommy becomes into a raging demon with a worse fate befalling him afterwards.
Those infected join together to hunt down other apartment tenants.
A group of survivors are locked in the apartment's garage, where a fitness coach named Hank (played by Bobby Rhodes who returns from part one, but in a different role) is trying to call the shots and figure out a way to escape.
Somehow, all the doors and exits in the apartment are locked so getting out is nearly impossible - an aspect taken from the first film.
This movie is a showcase of gore with a story that tries to be like the first movie, but with barely enough differences. And somewhere in the middle, the writers remember they need a central character. So, they go with the most vulnerable yet unlikely character.
The majority of the movie's budget surely went towards the make-up and visual effects, particularly the scene where the demon attempts to push its way through a television screen. Its an early computer effect as far as I know. It's memorable, to say the least.
The director clearly wanted the audience to get a lot of close looks at the demon make-up with all the lengthy closeup shots of the demonic faces, especially Sally's, in all their frothy, foaming, grimacing, bleeding, dripping glory. In fact, the poster displays nothing but the movies best effects. It's right there!
Also, the dog's transformation was a little more comedic that what was probably intended. Still, when I think about it, this effect must have taken a lot of time and patience to accomplish as they used a real dog in makeup for the scene.
To the movie's credit, when it comes to scares and gore, Demons 2 doesn't pull any punches. The effort to scare and gross the audience out is very apparent. The movie tries hard to pull off a little more than the first. And for that, it deserves applause.
In my youth, I definitely would have found this movie terrifying with scenes I have no doubt would have locked themselves into my memory for years to come if I had watched in my youth.

There are some suspenseful scenes where the audience knows a demon is lurking nearby, but the movie doesn't use any music. This small detail makes the film a bit more chilling as there's no indication whether we should be scared something bad will happen, or when it'll happen. The anticipation still plays out.
Horror movie legend Dario Argento, who was a writer and producer for Demons returns for the sequel. Argento's name is attached to some horror classics such as Phenomena, Innocent Blood and Suspiria. 
The visuals are great in this sequel, especially the shots of demon-possessed tenants peering over ledges and down dark hallways dark with glowing eyes reminiscent of the scene in Salem's Lot with Geoffrey Lewis as a vampire sitting on a rocking chair in the dim light. 
For fans of true horror, this is a decent sequel to the successful first movie. It tries to give more than what we saw in the first. And it pulls it of rather well.

Demons (1985)